Nevada law enforcement officials issued a desperate plea to tens of thousands of strung-out Burners for help identifying a mystery man found dead in a “pool of blood” Saturday night as they try to narrow their search for the still-at-large killer.
With Burning Man set to conclude on Monday night, investigators’ window to probe any witnesses among the massive crowd is quickly closing.
“At this time, no information is too small to disregard, so do not hesitate to contact my Office,” Perishing County Sheriff Jerry Allen pleaded.
The unidentified man’s body was found around 9 p.m. Saturday, right as the human-shaped effigy that gives the raucous festival its name was torched.
Authorities said that the victim was between 35 and 40 years old with short brown hair and facial hair and stood around 6 feet tall.
Horrified festival goers found the bloodied man “lying on the ground, obviously deceased” and flagged down a sheriff’s deputy monitoring the festival.
By then, his unknown killer was already lying low somewhere among the sum-odd 70,000 attendees, according to officials.
Two days later, authorities have come up with zilch and turned to the public for help tracking down the “person who would commit such a heinous crime against another human being,” the Perishing County Sheriff’s Office wrote.
A perimeter still stands around the area where the man’s body was found in Black Rock City, the grounds where the festival is held, but cops are quickly running out of time as Burners leave the desert and head home.
The Burning Man Project, which organizes the annual palooza, is cooperating with authorities and encouraged all other Burners to do the same.
“The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office will be the primary source of further information. If you are in Black Rock City, do not interfere with law enforcement activity,” the festival association said in a statement.
Burning Man started in 1987 in San Francisco before moving to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada in 1990. The week-long bonanza originally started as a celebration of artistic self-expression and counterculture, but became more notorious for its association with hippie culture and psychedelic drugs.
In recent years, though, it’s been overwhelmed by the richest of the rich and young influencers looking to throw caution to the wind.
More than 1,000 injuries are typically reported by the end of the festival each year, on top of a swath of other bizarre happenings.
Before this year’s celebration even began, authorities had their hands full arresting miscreants trying to sneak drugs into Black Rock City.
Then, a dust storm swept through the grounds and upended many camps alongside the famed Orgy Dome near the very start of the celebrations.
Last Wednesday, a couple who didn’t know they were even expecting welcomed a baby girl inside their mud-caked camper. The newborn, named Aurora, was quickly transported to a nearby hospital and placed in the NICU, where she’ll recuperate until she’s ready to go home.
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